WSU Fall Commencement 2006 Highlight Students

PULLMAN, Wash. — William D. Ruckelshaus, well known for his service at the highest levels of federal government, will deliver the keynote address at Washington State University’s fall commencement, 10 a.m. Saturday Dec. 9 at Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum. It will be the sixth fall commencement since WSU was founded in 1890. The university holds spring commencement in May.

Ruckelshaus is an attorney in the Seattle office of the Perkins Coie law firm. In the 1970s, he was the first head of the Environmental Protection Agency. In the 1980s, he again led the EPA. He has been acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. deputy attorney general. 

Formerly a corporate executive with Weyerhaeuser Co., he was U.S. envoy for the implementation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Ruckelshaus chairs the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board and co-chairs the Puget Sound Partnership to clean up Puget Sound. He also chairs the board for the William D. Ruckelshaus Center, a neutral resource for collaborative problem solving. The center is a joint effort of Washington‘s two research universities, WSU and the UW.

Teri Nelson, WSU commencement coordinator, said some 700 students – about 580 undergraduate students and 120 graduate students – are expected to participate. “In 2006, more than 5,000 undergraduates and 950 graduate students will earn a degree from WSU. These numbers – which cover May, August and December graduates — include those participating in fall and spring Commencement ceremonies, as well as those graduating without participating in a ceremony.”

During the ceremony, WSU President V. Lane Rawlins will highlight these graduates: 

Inga D. Zornes, Wenatchee

College: Liberal Arts

School: Music and Theatre Arts

Degree: Bachelor of Music – Music education without teaching certification

High school: Wenatchee, 2002

Career goal: Attend graduate school to study Suzuki pedagogy and to become certified in the Suzuki method of teaching violin

Parents: Jeanne Irene Zornes and Richard Vernon Zornes, Wenatchee

Bio:

Starting as a freshman at WSU in 2002, Inga Zornes is a WSU Regents Scholar in the university’s prestigious Honors College. Uncertain about a major, she initially explored another academic area. While doing that she also took violin lessons from Meredith Arksey, WSU music faculty member. Although not a music major, Zornes was pushed to excel as a violinist. Arksey saw potential in Zornes as a musician that Zornes herself did not see. Recognizing the WSU music program’s supportive faculty and staff, Zornes changed her major to music education. Supported and encouraged by Arksey, Zornes started a private teaching studio, giving violin and viola lessons to students of all ages. She discovered she loved teaching and working with students and their families. Mentoring her students the same way Arksey mentored her is Zornes’ personal goal. Zornes also values the chance to share music with senior citizen and community audiences, and often involves her students in these performances. Just as she enjoyed being pushed to excel by Arksey, Zornes has appreciated how Honors College faculty challenge her, yet remain encouraging. Her goal of becoming a Suzuki violin teacher made her decision to write her Honors thesis about Suzuki violin teaching method a natural. This fall she coupled her thesis research with assisting in the Palouse Suzuki Strings Program. Her activities have included being a member of the WSU Symphony Orchestra and the WSU String Quartet. Off campus, Zornes played violin in the pit orchestra for a Pullman Civic Theatre production as well as in worship bands at Pullman‘s Emmanuel Baptist Church and the Wenatchee Free Methodist Church.

Contact:

Arlene Parkay, College of Liberal Arts academic coordinator, 509/335.6708, parkaya@wsu.edu

Ching-Yi (Judy) Tseng, Taiwan

College: Education

Department: Teaching and Learning

Degree: Ph.D., Education

Other colleges: Sheng Te Christian College, Taiwan, B.A. 1998; George Fox University, Oregon, B.A. 2002; WSU, Ed.M. 2003

Career goal: Be a college professor

Parents: Fong-Lang Pan and De-Liang Tseng, Taiwan

Bio:

In spite of overwhelming barriers, Judy Tseng will achieve her dream of becoming a college professor. Her father, who dropped out of school at age 11, understands the importance of formal education. His encouragement of his daughter is manifested in the fact that he mortgaged the family home to allow her to continue studying. Overcoming challenges of language and culture, she has worked tirelessly to understand concepts, meet deadlines and earn the respect of faculty and students. Those who worked with her in the College of Education say her academic defenses of her master’s and doctoral degrees were outstanding. She has also excelled by publishing her research. This semester she has served as a volunteer/visiting teaching assistant for a class, supporting the instructor in facilitating the course. Her commitment to education has been with dedication, fierce determination and every ounce of ability. She will return to Taiwan after graduation to seek a position with a college and to support her family.

Contact:

Joy Egbert, education faculty, 509/335.7277, jegbert@wsu.edu

Meagan P. Soltwisch, Issaquah

College: Nursing

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Nursing

High school: Cascade, Everett, 2002

Career Goal: Work in labor and delivery and attend graduate school to earn a master’s degree and become a women’s health care nursing practitioner.

Parents: Angie and Joel Kramer, Issaquah

Bio:

Meagan Soltwisch loves helping people and working with vulnerable populations. Nursing was a natural fit for her career goals. During her nursing education, she married in July 2006. Her husband, Brandon, a 1st Calvary Division U.S. Army officer, was deployed to Iraq on Oct. 31. 31 from Fort Bliss El Paso, Texas. Through great determination, she took a six week leave of absence from school to spend quality time in Texas with her husband before deployment. Thanks to her dedication and determination, despite her absence, she will graduate on schedule with her classmates because she made arrangements with every nursing faculty member to complete all assignments, tests and clinical work on her revised schedule. Next year she will be working in the Labor and Delivery unit at a hospital in El Paso and hopes to pursue a master’s degree to become a women’s health care nursing practitioner.

Contact:

Tina Bayne, Nursing, 509.324.7241, bayne@wsu.edu

Debra S. Matthews, Elk

College: Engineering and Architecture

Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering

Degree: Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering – Minors in mathematics and Russian

High school: Riverside (Chattaroy), 2002

Other colleges: Eastern Washington University

Career goal: Earning a master’s degree and work in industry, perhaps as a research consultant. Later, earn a doctoral degree and teach while conducting research.

Parents: Susan and David Lynch, Elk

Bio:

Debra Matthews was battling deadly lymphoma for more than two years. Medical treatments often made her too tired to walk across her living room. As she lay in bed, she wrote scholarship applications – one sentence at a time, with rests in between. Such determination has served her well. Matthews will graduate with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Matthews, an Honors College student, always enjoyed math and science. “There’s a right answer, and you can prove it,” she said. She excelled academically in high school. As a high school junior through Running Start, she took classes at Eastern Washington University. In the summer of 2001, after her high school junior year, Matthews developed what she thought was a cold that would not go away. Thirty days later, a chest X-ray and a biopsy revealed fast-spreading, stage IV lymphoma. Her life changed quickly. Weeks in the hospital with radiation and chemotherapy were followed by two more years of treatment. She took courses at EWU while waiting for her health to return. Although the patient, Matthews became a student of her illness. She insisted her doctor tell her everything about her cancer. “I have a more extensive medical knowledge than I should have,” she said. “I was always asking questions and wanting him to explain it.” In fall 2003, her health improved and she transferred to WSU. As a WSU student, she worked on research projects with Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty members Dave McLean and Mike Wolcott. Her research on reinforced concrete masonry resulted in changes to design code. Her research on the effects of temperature and moisture on flexural properties of wood plastic composites is expected to be published in an academic journal.

Contact:

Tina Hilding, Engineering and Architecture, 509/335.5095, thilding@wsu.edu

David M. Koslicki, Mount Vernon

College: Sciences

Department: Mathematics

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Theoretical Mathematics

High school: Home school in Mount Vernon

Other colleges: Skagit Valley College (Running Start), Mount Vernon. Pennsylvania State University

Career goal: To earn a doctoral degree in mathematics, become a university professor and teach and do research in topology or number theory.

Parents: Diane and Mark Koslicki, Gonzales, La.

Bio:

David Koslicki and his two sisters were home-schooled by their parents; their mother being a Christian Home Educator’s Support System founding member. His aptitude for mathematics was inspired by his father and honed through his own studies. As a Running Start student at Skagit Valley College, he took classes taught by Greta Kocol, who will be in the audience at 2006 WSU Fall Commencement. Her mentoring and instruction helped develop his math skills and whet his appetite for mathematical challenges. Since transferring to WSU in fall 2004, he has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average. In fall semester 2005, Koslicki studied at Pennsylvania State University as a Mathematics Advanced Studies Semester participant. At WSU, with support of mathematics faculty and staff and direction of his adviser, mathematics faculty member Judi McDonald, he has continued work on a research project started at Penn State. The results of the project — in a research paper entitled “Permutations, Substitutions, and Fractals” – will be submitted for publication. He plans to continue his mathematical studies as a graduate student at Penn State. In addition to his studies and research, Koslicki is involved in the United States Pony Club, one of the leading equestrian organizations in the world. In summer 2003, he took part in a national competition as the stable manager for dressage representing the northwest region. He continues his involvement with the club as an equine instructor, working with young children.

Contact:

Sandy Cooper, Mathematics, 509/335.3134, sccooper@wsu.edu

Christopher D. Hiles, Colfax

College: Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS)

Department: Horticulture and Landscape architecture

Degree: Bachelor of Science, Horticulture – Focus on fruit and vegetable production

High school: Naches, 1991

Other colleges: Yakima Valley Community College, attended 1991-1993

Career goal: WSU Graduate School, leading to position as a county extension agent/educator

Parents: Peggy Hiles, Naches, and David Hiles, Post Falls, Idaho.

Bio:

Chris Hiles is a non-traditional student. After graduating from high school in 1991 and studying 1991-1993 at Yakima Valley Community College, he worked nine years as a consumer marketing representative for United States Tobacco Company. Tired of travel required by the job and with a desire to finish the academic degree he started in 1991, he entered WSU in 2004. His WSU studies are responding to his passion for working with plants. “Plants could potentially hold the answers to many of society’s most pressing problems, from pollution to famine to a cure for cancer,” he said. A member of the WSU President’s Honor Roll, his leadership abilities are reflected in being CAHNRS Student Senate president, Horticulture Club president and former manager of the club’s greenhouse.  He has also been an active member of the Viticulture and Enology Club since 2004 and served as the club’s Student Senate Representative. In 2006, he was named Outstanding Junior of the Year by CAHNRS and the Capital Press. Innovative and organized, he often goes above and beyond the call of duty. For example, Hiles once was master of ceremonies of a College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences evening awards banquet and rose at three o’clock the next morning to move plants for the hort club’s sale on Mom’s Weekend. He worked two years in the barley breeding program and is now working with the WSU Potato Research Group. Also, he has worked in the seedhouse and completed and undergraduate research project. Hiles will soon begin studies to earn a WSU master’s degree in horticulture.

Contact:

Linda Bentley, Program Coordinator for Academic Programs, CAHNRS, 509/335.4562, bentley@wsu.edu

Amin T. Hester, Tacoma

Program: Disability Resource Center

College: Liberal Arts

Department: Communication

Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Communication

High school: Henry Foss, Tacoma, 1997

Career goal: Event planning and promotions

Parents: Arva Marie Hester and Amin Salaam, Detroit

Bio:

Amin Tony Hester is a WSU Disability Resource Center success story. Although legally blind, he has maintained his academic focus and excelled, impressing WSU faculty and staff with his determination and persistence. During his five years as a WSU student, he has had six separate operations on his eyes. These operations necessitated withdrawal from classes, but his goal of graduation was never lost. While at WSU, Hester has been involved with Cultural Diversity Leadership Program, was president and treasurer for the Disability Awareness Association, and worked for Cable 8, the university’s student-run cable TV station. A singer, he has been featured on a number of musical CDs and has performed in more than 100 concerts. “It has been a pleasure to assist Tony in his dream of a college degree from WSU,” said Susan Schaeffer, Disability Resource Center director. “I have witnessed the obstacles and hardships that he has had to endure….” Schaeffer and Hester worked together to develop computer equipment with assistive technology and valuable accommodations for his classes. “Our faculty at WSU has been vital in their contribution to Tony’s accommodations. It has been an honor to be a partner with Tony and with the great work that we do at WSU,” she said.

Contact:

Susan Schaeffer, Disability Resource Center, 509/335.1757, schaeff@wsu.edu

Amanda J. Foust, Pasco

College: Veterinary Medicine

Department: Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology and Physiology – Program in Neuroscience

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, computational option

High School: Pasco, 2002

Career goal: Earn a doctoral degree in neuroscience and someday become a NASA research scientist doing neuroscience experiments in space.

Parents: Jean Anne and David Jesse Foust, Pasco

Bio:

Amanda Foust, an Honors College student, will be the first WSU student in the history of the university’s neuroscience program to graduate with a degree in computational neuroscience, a complex mix of computer science, computer engineering, math and neurobiology classes. As a freshman, she started in the laboratory of researcher David Rector in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Rector says her research and efforts– designing and testing optical systems for recording scattered light changes in nerves–will revolutionize how the medical imaging field will perform diagnostic tests in the next 10 years. Rector has worked with hundreds of exceptional undergraduate and graduate students – including those at WSU, the University of New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Stanford and UCLA – but says Foust is the very best student with whom he has been associated. Foust has published a number of manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and has several in progress. A former WSU Neuroscience Club president, she has presented her work at prestigious national meetings where only five percent of all papers submitted are selected for oral presentations. In addition to her educational pursuits, she sings with the WSU Choir and the university’s Madrigal Singers.

Contact:

Sandi Brabb, Neuroscience, 509/335.2190, brabb@wsu.edu

Thomas S. Carignan, Bellevue, Wash.

College: Business

Department: Information Systems

Degree: Bachelor’s in Business Administration – Management Information Systems

High school: Interlake, Bellevue, 2002

Career goal: Utilize background in information technology to enhance productivity of individuals and organizations

Parents: Sandra Louise Carignan and James David Carignan, Eagle, Idaho

Bio:

In addition to his academic excellence (he has a 3.96 grade point average), Thomas Carignan has a “high sense of social responsibility, a drive to initiate activities and a desire to get involved in events,” said K. D. Joshi, WSU Information Systems faculty member. An Honors College student, Carignan has excelled in and outside of the classroom. As an outstanding Management Information Systems undergraduate, he was a MIS Fellow. He has volunteered for local cable and radio stations, been operations vice president of the Mu Iota Sigma society, and, for two consecutive years, president of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars’ WSU chapter. He served a summer internship through the prestigious FBI Honors Internship Program. As a “Founding Father” of the WSU chapter of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, he helped raise funds for and awareness about those with disabilities. As a two-time president of WSU’s National Society of Collegiate Scholars chapter, he helped organize a project with the Pomona, Calif., college chapter which collected shoes for those in India suffering from foot diseases spread from lack of adequate foot protection. In addition, the chapter has participated in a “pen friends” program with Jefferson Elementary School in Pullman, held a “March to College” tour for students from Lincoln Middle School in Clarkston and collected gifts which were donated to organizations to give during the holiday season.

Contact:

K. D. Joshi, WSU faculty, 509/335.5319, joshi@wsu.edu